VI

Irene has it bad.

The incident has affected Irene more than she wishes to admit. The receptionist cannot seem to concentrate on her work. She half-heartedly serves the guests and forces a smile. The day goes by slowly and she groans when she glances at the clock, realizing that it is barely after noon. Seulgi turns to Irene, scrunching her eyebrows.

“Oh lord, please enlighten me, tell me the reason why the mighty Baechu is all upset.” Seulgi claps her hands together in a praying motion.

Irene can only sigh, not even having the energy to hit Seulgi, “Seulgi, now would be a good time to leave me alone.”

“Is this about Wendy again?” Seulgi asks nonchantly, going back to typing away at her computer.

“No. Okay, maybe,” Irene groans, “Okay, yes. It’s about her.”

“You said something stupid again, am I right or am I right?” Seulgi whistles.

“I didn’t… It’s just- It’s hard to explain.”

“So the devil didn’t say anything dumb. What a surprise.”

Irene sighs, “Please keep your comments to yourself, Seul. I’m having enough trouble already.”

Seulgi lets out a low whistle again, “Speaking of Wendy, she’s heading right this way.”

Irene yelps in surprise, eyes widening. She immediately ducks under the front desk in an attempt to hide herself. Seulgi cannot help the loud laughter that makes its way past her lips.

“I mean, she’s heading to the restaurant,” Seulgi tries to stifle her laughter, her shoulders shaking up and down in silence.

Irene gets back on her seat and shoots a glare at Seulgi after realizing it was a prank. She exhales, shaking her head slowly. Looking up, she spots Wendy making her way to the hotel restaurant. Wendy is in a simple tee and black jeans and it reminds Irene of yesterday, when they met for dinner. Irene inwardly cringes at the memory. Maybe she was being too harsh… They could still be friends? No matter how hard Irene tries, she cannot see Wendy as a superior. Wendy is just… Seungwan to her.

She notices that Wendy walks fast, with long strides, despite her below average height. The way Wendy walks is confident, with poise and elegance. This is someone who knows what she wants. In fact, it is pretty obvious that Wendy holds high authority, now that Irene actually observes her. Irene has never seen Wendy in this way before. Maybe it’s the way Wendy dresses – always so casual. Irene can hardly believe Wendy is able to carry such huge responsibilities on such tiny shoulders. Honestly, it took quite a while for it to sink in – the fact that Wendy’s the next CEO of S Hotel. The information took Irene by surprise, even though she already knew Wendy is someone of high stature. She had previously guessed that Wendy might have been the daughter of a rich person but she never expected Wendy to be the daughter of the current CEO of the hotel she’s working at.

“Ridiculous…” Irene mutters to herself.

“Did my joke go too far? Sorry, Baechu,” Seulgi apologizes, managing to catch Irene’s murmurs.

Irene doesn’t bother to correct herself, because she does find Seulgi’s jokes ridiculous as well. Irene only shakes her head, dismissing Seulgi’s apology. Seulgi stops typing and stands up to stretch, yawning as well. Irene opens a bottle and gulps down the water, hoping that the water can wash away her exhaustion. Irene very nearly chokes on the water when Seulgi suddenly greets, “Good afternoon, Miss Son, what can I do for you?”

Irene barely manages to swallow the water. She peeks up and oh my god, Wendy is there. She keeps her eyes on her computer screen, pretending to be furiously typing away.

“Hi Seulgi, I bought some sweets for you guys. You guys look tired,” Wendy comments, frowning worriedly.

“No, it’s okay! I don’t think we should accept stuff from VIPs,” Seulgi politely rejects, waving her hands.

“I can be considered a friend, right? So a friend buys you stuff and you should accept it. Just take it, it’s not that much anyway.” Wendy smiles and Seulgi cannot bring it in herself to reject.

Seulgi takes the bag of sweets and places it beside Irene’s computer. Irene continues typing away, pretending not to listen.

“Thanks, Wendy. You’re a really good person. I thank you on behalf of this devil as well,” Seulgi says, gesturing towards Irene.

Wendy waves it off, “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help anyway. You guys look like you could use a break.”

“Well, it’s a job. We’re not the only ones who are tired. Pretty sure people with more authority than us are even more exhausted. Like Manager Park, wow, she’s always everywhere.” Seulgi shrugs.

“I know.” Wendy glances at her watch, “It was nice talking to you, Seulgi. I need to run.”

Seulgi nods, waving a goodbye, watching Wendy rush off. She sits back down, turning to Irene.

“Wendy’s a nice person. She’s a r